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FCC and Internet


Mimir

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Being mostly retired, and having loads of time to watch the news... I am disturbed yet again about the POTUS trying to either give away control of some aspects of the Internet and or gaining total control.  

 

While some aspects may be good, we are not allowed to even read the new regulations before it is passed.   If anyone remembers last year attempt to give control to "the world" It was scary thinking that China, Russia, or even Iran could get control.  

 

Obama Wants a Global Community to Run the Internet, but It Could End Up in the Hands of China. Or Putin
 
 
 
New attempt to gain government control..
 
 
This latest attempt of this administration is to impose "Obama Care" like rules for internet access.... Now, not being able to even see the proposed regulations we don't know if it will affect countries other than the US but... do any of us want to take that gamble?
 
 
 
I urge all of you go to the following and sign the petition...
 
 
 
Good luck all!
 
 
Just saying,
Mim
 
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The Petition (for those who don't or can't get involved)

 

Dear Chairman Wheeler,
 
Internet use and online communication is the scourge of autocratic governments that deny basic freedoms to their people. Internet information has proven to be a spark that creates the fire of freedom in the most oppressive corners of the world.
 
The Internet is one of the most positive forces for improving the human condition the world has ever known. It is the hub of innovation for the economy in America and the world. It's a source of progress, democratic distribution of information, societal change, personal empowerment and technological innovation.
 
The attempt by the Obama Administration to control the Internet as a public utility takes power away from consumers, website developers and small business owners and puts it in the hands of Government. This will drive up costs, slow down innovation, and put unelected political appointees in charge of picking winners and losers.
 
And it will take away America's moral authority to argue that autocratic regimes no right to assert control of the Internet in their own countries.
 
Mr. Wheeler, I am signing my name here today, asking that you and your colleagues vote NO on bringing the Internet under Federal Government control.
 
Sincerely,
Signer 
 
 
FYI,
Mim
 
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  • 2 weeks later...

I definitely did not sign that petition as the continuation of the current Net Neutrality we all enjoy can only be protected with a these new FCC rules. On a personal level of being a Comcast customer and a Netflix subscriber if these rules don't exist I'll have the privilege of paying Comcast twice to watch Netflix. Without some new Net Neutrality rules in place Comcast will continue it's plans to force companies that aren't their customer like Netflix to pay to access Comcast's subscribers(me) and Netflix will be forced to pay and they in turn will be forced to raise their prices from their customers(me again). Currently the FCC has no legal authority to do anything about that situation or really any other situation involving the internet which proved in court by Verizon's complete victory over the FCC when they challenged the last set of rules. 

So as it stands we have a multi-hundred Billion dollar industry with stagnant or declining quality of service, a standard of horrible treatment of customers, a stated desire to actively discriminate against new companies, a 'natural monopoly' which is preventing any new competitors, networks that have had hundreds of billions of dollars that had been given in subsidies, but yet have zero government oversight. Anyone else see why something needs to be done?

With the amount of power and influence these companies currently wield, changing the rules so the companies that provide what most of us would call a necessity so they do not have carte blanche to do whatever they want can only be positive in my view. 

 

Also this:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/26/fcc-net-neutrality/

Edited by croddam1
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I definitely did not sign that petition as the continuation of the current Net Neutrality we all enjoy can only be protected with a these new FCC rules. On a personal level of being a Comcast customer and a Netflix subscriber if these rules don't exist I'll have the privilege of paying Comcast twice to watch Netflix. Without some new Net Neutrality rules in place Comcast will continue it's plans to force companies that aren't their customer like Netflix to pay to access Comcast's subscribers(me) and Netflix will be forced to pay and they in turn will be forced to raise their prices from their customers(me again). Currently the FCC has no legal authority to do anything about that situation or really any other situation involving the internet which proved in court by Verizon's complete victory over the FCC when they challenged the last set of rules. 

So as it stands we have a multi-hundred Billion dollar industry with stagnant or declining quality of service, a standard of horrible treatment of customers, a stated desire to actively discriminate against new companies, a 'natural monopoly' which is preventing any new competitors, networks that have had hundreds of billions of dollars that had been given in subsidies, but yet have zero government oversight. Anyone else see why something needs to be done?

With the amount of power and influence these companies currently wield, changing the rules so the companies that provide what most of us would call a necessity so they do not have carte blanche to do whatever they want can only be positive in my view. 

 

Also this:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/26/fcc-net-neutrality/

Sadly you don't know that...As of my post the bill was closed and even more sad it had to pass for us to see what was in it.  

 

Personally, I would rather #1. See what the elected officials (and their appointed cronies) were up to, and #2 from what I heard of the contents the internet should remain uncontrolled and NOT in any government control (especially the US).

 

Wait and see, but me thinks as soon as the government has control of anything it becomes a taxable asset. 

 

You will be paying Comcast a fee, Netflix a monthly fee and soon a US tax (purely for administrative functions ;) ) Yes without Big Bro sticking his finger in your pocket... rates may go up, but you ALWAYS have other options.  

 

Wait no you won't... ALL internet access will be under the control of the US. 

 

 

As of this writing the contents are still sealed.  2:35 pm central time.

 

 

 

Again good luck to all of us.

 
 
Just saying,
 
To blindly go where no one has gone before...(Read follow)
Mim
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FYI

 

Today, the Federal Communications Commission sent us down a terrible path toward a government controlled Internet by voting to impose heavy-handed Title II regulations—without even making the regulations public.

This will undoubtedly stifle our nation's most dynamic and innovative economic sector with rules written nearly 80 years ago. `

 

Based on :The authority for the new rules comes from Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. The new rules also call for the regulators to "forbear" — or refrain — from some provisions of Title II, including pricing regulation and other parts that are less relevant to broadband services.

 

 

Worst of all, the un-elected bureaucrats at the FCC have avoided all conversation with our elected representatives and have come to this decision without the consent or direction of Congress. This means no one elected by the American public is accountable for this unprecedented power grab.

 

Senator John Thune is now calling for hearings to examine this process, and try to find a solution that puts consumers first.

 

Will you join him in demanding government accountability?

The American people deserve to know what's in the FCC's secret plan. They passed over 300 pages of new regulations but refused to release them to the public, and now, even after they've voted on it, Americans are still left in the dark. This is not right.

 

We cannot afford to stand back and do nothing while the FCC works to demolish the Internet we know and love.

 

Please urge your representatives to join Senator Thune and return the power of the Internet to the people instead of three unelected bureaucrats.

The FCC should be held accountable for all the decisions they make -- and that means we need a public conversation. Fighting the FCC's secrecy regarding Title II is essential if we want to preserve a free Internet and rein in the power of the executive branch.

 

Contact your representative right now. Make sure your Congressman stands for Internet freedom.

 

- Team Freedom

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I actually full agree that congress should take more control of the situation but as it stands they are incapable of doing much of anything at the moment. With that being the case, allowing these companies to continue to abuse their monopolies/duopolies at the expense of the American people seems foolish. Fortunately, at least in my view, the FCC has seen fit to expand their purview and step in to fix the mess. Congress has refused it's responsibility to do either A.) Make laws on this with directly or B.) Properly give the FCC the authority to deal with broadband abuses with it's own rules. As neither of those seem forthcoming the FCC has piggy-backed on telephone legislation to try to resolve the worsening situation. They are the federal Communications commission after all so it seems reasonable to think that they have some idea of how best we can use this communication tool. As for any new taxes, looking at my phone bill and it's list of taxes makes me not to worried about a possible similar $2 a month Title II increase in onto my $70 internet bill which gives me not terribly fast internet. I'd gladly pay $2 more a month to have the government force Comcast to play by the current rules of Net Neutrality that have allowed the internet to grow and thrive for these past 20 years. I might be alone on that but even so a new tax hasn't been mentioned yet so that could be much worry over nothing.

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I actually full agree that congress should take more control of the situation but as it stands they are incapable of doing much of anything at the moment. With that being the case, allowing these companies to continue to abuse their monopolies/duopolies at the expense of the American people seems foolish. Fortunately, at least in my view, the FCC has seen fit to expand their purview and step in to fix the mess. Congress has refused it's responsibility to do either A.) Make laws on this with directly or B.) Properly give the FCC the authority to deal with broadband abuses with it's own rules. As neither of those seem forthcoming the FCC has piggy-backed on telephone legislation to try to resolve the worsening situation. They are the federal Communications commission after all so it seems reasonable to think that they have some idea of how best we can use this communication tool. As for any new taxes, looking at my phone bill and it's list of taxes makes me not to worried about a possible similar $2 a month Title II increase in onto my $70 internet bill which gives me not terribly fast internet. I'd gladly pay $2 more a month to have the government force Comcast to play by the current rules of Net Neutrality that have allowed the internet to grow and thrive for these past 20 years. I might be alone on that but even so a new tax hasn't been mentioned yet so that could be much worry over nothing.

 

My fear (since we can not see what they are cooking up) is that we will soon have a "tax" on let's say international e-mails? A tax on Tweets? A new tax on a per photo sent or received? A tax on your bandwidth?

 

Or censorship of this game.  It may not have been affordable for EA to piss off another generation of players to close down EnB, but if they can have the US do it for free...well why not.

 

Just as you say that there "may" be all good things in the bill, but I say that there may be many more things in it that we really don't want or need. Even some IN the FCC that have seen the new law, have said it was a very bad thing.

 

"...much worry over nothing."  I think if something is being held up with the "You can't see this BUT it will be good for you," goes against my grain.  

 

 

I must be getting old.

 

 

Just saying

Chicken Little

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To be fair I have seen 5 pages of the new ruling.  What I see does not make my skin crawl but it is the other 300+ pages that I am NOT allowed to see (until published in the Federal Register 60 + days from now) is what is of concern.  Although it is said that Congress has the option to block/rewrite rules that are blatantly bad....well if you think they will act on anything or get any kind of consensus I have some great swamp land to sell you.

 

 

Again as always...

 

Just saying,

Mim

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I have been doing a bit of looking for the original documents that the new Net neutrality rules are based on.  What I find of the most interest is the fees that will be charged by the US to operators of web sites.  I am not 100% sure as the new document has not been released yet.  

 

The first is the original 1934 document... If you read through it it was amended several times and the most recent that I could find was the Bill Clinton add-on of 1996.  It seems the 1996 document being an amendment of the original document is using the 1934 document for the pricing structure. Note: pages 18 - 29.

 

My fear (it may be unfounded) is that not just the BIG guys will be charged a "fee" and be licensed by the US but also the little guys see pricing structure in the 1934 document (read EnB Emulator).  I also am a bit concerned about the section of international fees/inspections for any "communication" to and or from the US.

 

Listed below are the links to the documents, both the wiki and the actual document.

 

If anyone lives outside US and can check if their local news is reporting anything about this. If so please post here.

 

THE LINKS

 

 
 
 
 

1996 Wiki

 
 
 
Just saying,
Mim
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  • 1 month later...

Having signed the petition to stop the FCC regulations on the internet I am on a mailing list.  I have not posted any up until now but it looks like one of my thoughts will come true.  

 

 

Want another reason to worry about the FCC’s Internet takeover? It will be raising your Internet fees. By a lot.

The FCC didn’t want to talk about this. They wanted to sell the public false promises for Internet ‘fairness’ and hope we all forgot that giving them more power would mean them taking more of our freedom. And money!

And they almost got away with it, too. But people are starting to wake up and the more they learn about the Internet takeover, the less they like it. This latest news from the LA Times only adds to the growing concern. Word is out that the FCC’s new regulations will break the bank for many American families. And it will only get worse.

"The federal government is sure to tap this new revenue stream soon to spend more of consumers' hard-earned dollars, so when it comes to broadband, read my lips: More new taxes are coming. It's just a matter of when."

Please read this article and share it with your friends to warn them about the damaging consequences of the FCC’s power grab. We need demand that Congress stop this today.

Sincerely,

Team Freedom

 

 

Just saying,

Mim

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As a computer professional, I am not in the slightest concerned about the 'threat' of net neutrality. I'm not going to engage much of what they've sent you, because I fear it will simply start an argument that I am totally uninterested in.

 

Tim Berners-Lee supports it. The only people I see spending against it are the already big companies. I see them frequently running to the FCC to cry about local utilities boards and the like setting up broadband in the area. Look up the case of Chattanooga TN or Wilson NC, and the local cable monopolies. They both sued and ran to the FCC to try to stop it, and failed. Now people enjoy cheap internet options in Chattanooga and it was even a major factor in drawing Amazon to our state to create a facility in Chattanooga and employ tons of people. I imagine there are similar effects in NC, but I don't live there.

 

I'll believe the 'hugely increased fees' when I see them, and I'll choose someone with a lower price, isn't that how the free market is supposed to work?

 

*edit* adding links in case you're interested in reading.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/20/technology/innovation/chattanooga-internet/

http://www.govexec.com/state-local/2015/02/chattanooga-wilson-fcc-municipal-broadband-ruling/106251/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/17/how-chattanooga-beat-google-fiber-by-half-a-decade/

Edited by Kyp
added links
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